Stolen Hearts
by sultrysweet
Summary: When Emma finds out Regina isn't happy, she makes Robin rectify that mistake the only way the Dark One can.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I know, I know. Yet another story, but it seems after a few months I finally came up with some Dark!Emma/Dark Swan ideas. This one is my favorite so I'm pretty sure this and Covered are going to be the last Dark Swan ideas I have. No guarantees though. I'm still working on updating my other SQ fics, slowly but surely. Hopefully you'll enjoy this story as much as you enjoy my other fics.**

* * *

There were several people in the diner, the small business nearly packed during one of their daily rushes, but the room was utterly silent. The recently returned Charming, Snow, Regina, Henry, Hook, and Robin Hood had brought the Savior—now Dark One—back with them. And she sat in a booth across from the former Evil Queen. The two women stared at each other and said nothing. They seemed to size up one another as if they wondered when the other would make a move. Everyone else waited with baited breath to see what would happen.

Emma sat with a forearm pressed against the edge of the table, a cup of coffee in front of her, toned down makeup from when the group first found her in the Enchanted Forest, and a cold yet eerily neutral expression. As much as she looked the same, there was so much that had obviously changed about Emma. Regina, and everyone else, had noticed it in her appearance alone. She held herself differently, too. Less defiant, more haughty.

Regina sat with her legs crossed under the table while she lightly scraped her nails against the ceramic of her coffee mug. There was a scarlet red stain on the rim left behind by her lipstick that Emma's eyes occasionally glanced down to see, but focused more on the lipstick that still remained on her lips. The brunette noticed, but didn't know what to make of it. They'd stared at each other like that for years, mostly when they were unhappy with their arrangement. But Emma's eyes didn't hold the same kind of fire or disdain as they had when she'd first arrived in Storybrooke. She still had an edge to her, but green eyes were almost _softer_ as the blonde basked in the sight of her company.

Emma tilted her head to the side and stared at Regina for a few more moments. Her lips slowly curled into a smirk before her eyes shined with amusement. She looked like she knew something she wasn't supposed to and it thrilled her.

"Why are you looking at me like that," Regina asked.

Emma shook her head before she straightened up and let her smirk fade a little. She still seemed amused, but she was also ready for their conversation. "You're very easy to look at. And those eyes are so easy to get lost in."

Regina shifted in the booth from right to left and averted her eyes. She focused on her coffee and moved the handle forward and back a few times. She kept the mug on the table and listened to it slide across the wood as she made the mug dance back and forth in half-circles. Normally, she was better at hiding her emotions, but it was strange to sit with Emma like it was a cordial meeting that could turn into a standoff at any moment. She was nervous at the very least and she couldn't control how uncomfortable she appeared because the younger woman set her on edge _that much._

"Aren't you quite the romantic since your sacrifice. Too bad your boyfriend isn't on the receiving end of such sweet words," she said almost acerbically. Regina tried to sound upset or bored or anything other than off balance, but that was exactly how she felt and it seemed to take hold of her like the darkness had swallowed Emma up two weeks prior.

"I'm glad you think I'm sweet," Emma smiled, and it wasn't the same as Regina remembered it. She hadn't seen Emma smile after they'd found Lily and came back to Storybrooke. She hadn't been in a very good mood before they went to Massachusetts and New York and she was in an even worse mood when they'd returned. As soon as she seemed to be coming to grips with everything that had happened in the last few months, the darkness was ripped out of its cage: Rumpelstiltskin's black as all sin heart. After what Emma did for her that day, she really wished her mentor had died with all his misdeeds and pain, both his own and that which he'd inflicted upon others.

"I never said I thought you were sweet," Regina argued and refused to look Emma in the eye as she unfolded her paper napkin and smoothed out the creases. She had ordered her food just before Emma slid into the other side of the booth and they'd stared at each other for several long minutes before their conversation began. It was about time someone served her the meal she asked for, but she had a feeling no one would give her something to eat until Emma left. It took a death glare from the blonde for Granny to bring Emma the coffee she barely touched.

Emma shrugged like semantics didn't concern her and Regina remembered that she'd been just as nonchalant about it when she'd been the Evil Queen. Unless it was someone correcting her. Then she killed them for their insolence.

"What is it you want," Regina asked before she turned her attention to the counter. There was no cook or server in sight, just a bunch of gawking townspeople she really wished she could set ablaze without any backlash.

"Why are you so guarded? You and I were just starting to get comfortable as friends."

"We're still friends, Emma."

Emma practically snarled when Regina used her name. Her body tensed and she raised her shoulders as her face twitched into a look of displeasure before she was able to compose herself.

Regina furrowed her brow and stared quizzically at the other woman for a moment as she tried to figure out why the blonde would have reacted that way. When no reasons came to mind, she relaxed and let out a sigh. "I don't know what you want from me. Why are you here?"

"Can't I check in on the woman I saved from the fate I now suffer," Emma asked, and she sounded so much like Rumpel that it physically hurt her to witness.

"You've seen me," Regina tried to brush off the pain of watching Emma turn into something so far from who she was and tried to move past whatever it was the blonde was trying to do by being there. "I'm fine. You can go now."

Emma lightly laughed. "That's not checking in. That's physically assessing you."

"Then what is it you want to know?"

"Why are you getting upset? If we're still friends—"

"I'm upset because I haven't eaten yet," she said to Emma before she turned to look at the rest of the people in the diner and added, "Because everyone's afraid to come over here!"

Emma sat back and looked as casual and uncaring as ever before she snapped her fingers and a full plate of food appeared in front of Regina. "If that's not a meal you want to eat, I can get you something else."

Regina stared down at her food, baffled that Emma would know how to magic up a meal from scratch and even more baffled that Emma had bothered to use her magic for such a small request. She looked up from the plate and her eyes locked on Emma's. The blonde looked completely at home with herself. "Why did you do that?"

"Because you're hungry and you won't talk to me. I fixed your hunger issue. Now you can talk to me."

Regina closed her eyes and sighed again, heavily. The longer she sat with Emma, the more like Rumpel the blonde sounded. It was unnerving and, even worse, heartbreaking. "If you would just tell me what you _want,_ we can talk."

"It feels like you think I'm after more than some simple information."

"Because you won't get to the point," she growled. "I'll tell you what you want to know, but you have to ask me a question before I can answer. That's how conversation works. Or have you forgotten?"

Emma paused for a moment and looked at her. Everything was still again for several seconds and Regina clenched her fists on top of the table as she heard the ticking of the clock with too much clarity for her liking.

And then the blonde finally came out with it. "Are you happy?"

Regina blinked and reared back a bit, surprised by the question despite her happiness being Emma Swan's sole mission ever since she brought the woman they all _thought_ was Marian back to Storybrooke with her. "What?"

"I want to know if you're happy," Emma repeated herself even though they both knew she hadn't needed to. "I value your happiness, Regina. I want to make sure that you get every good thing you deserve."

Regina shook her head. "You can't possibly know, or _think,_ I deserve anything good."

"I do. I know you understand that because you tried to stop me from taking on the darkness."

Regina started to fidget again.

"You don't...owe me anything," Emma said. "But I hope you'll give me an honest answer."

Regina nervously licked her lips and tried to take a deep breath before she looked up at the blonde. She had no idea what to say. Her honest answer would have been a long and complicated story. She also didn't want to lie to Emma in case her superpower still worked even as the Dark One. There was no telling what the woman would do if she knew Regina had lied to her about something so simple yet so drastically important. "Everything's changed," was what she settled for and hoped it was enough to satisfy Emma's curiosity.

"That doesn't tell me much. You can answer the question in one word."

"You would think it was that easy—"

"It is that easy," Emma cut her off mid-sentence. "All this hesitation tells me is that you're _not_ happy."

"Well, you can't just expect me to be happy overnight just because you thrust yourself at the darkness," Regina said with a clipped and angry tone. She was a little flustered that Emma pushed so hard just know whether or not she was happy.

"I don't expect that. I _didn't_ expect that. I just want to know that you're okay and I get that maybe you're not smiling every second of every day because 'everything's just so fucking fantastic all the time,'" Emma said with a fake cheery voice before she dropped it back down to her normal pitch. "How are you? If you're not happy, what's wrong?"

"So many things," she mirthlessly laughed and gently shook her head.

Emma frowned, not too pleased with that answer. "You're miserable," she noted.

"Your parents may be determined to get you back, but they're also devastated. They look so grim all the time, even when they think they're getting closer to finding a way to separate you from what makes you the Dark One now. And Henry... Well, Henry's crushed. How am I supposed to be happy when everyone around me is hurting?"

"But you're not hurting?"

"Of course I am. You're an idiot for doing what you did. I'm pissed that you thought it was the only way to fix things, but it isn't like you're the only person in my life. I've got other things going on, too."

"Then tell me about them."

Regina scoffed. "No."

"Friends tell each other things, Regina."

"Friends also know when to leave things alone."

Emma sighed and closed her eyes. Regina watched her emotions change as they crossed over her face like rolling waves. It was unsettling and maybe a little disturbing that within a few seconds she saw the Emma she knew disappear and when green eyes opened again, the Dark One was in control.

"I gave up everything for you so I have every right to push you on this. There's a reason you're not telling me everything and _I'm_ pissed off because you won't explain why my sacrifice might have been for nothing."

Emma's voice was low and a little breathy. Not only did she not look like herself, but she no longer sounded like herself either. There was a rage and strong sense of power underneath Emma's previous exterior and it rose to the surface as soon as the blonde reached her limit. It seemed Emma had a very low tolerance for frustration as the Dark One.

Regina wasn't afraid of Emma, but she definitely didn't like or appreciate the woman's tone. She wouldn't back down, but she also wouldn't fight the blonde on the issue. She'd had plenty of disagreements with Rumpel in the past and she knew when it was best to keep her mouth shut and when she could challenge him without too many consequences.

Regina looked at Emma with a tight-lipped expression and steely brown eyes. She was firm but not combative. "Fine. You want to know if I'm happy? I'm not. You want to know why? You're part of the problem. Your 'noble' and 'heroic' and ' _charming'_ sacrifice has been more of a burden to me than it has been a chance to keep chasing after my happiness.

"But as I said before you aren't the only reason I'm not happy. I have a pregnant half-sister to deal with and she just loves to rub it in that's she's carrying my boyfriend's baby. She also likes to mention how I'll never be able to have what she has."

"She doesn't have anything," Emma snapped in front of her. But not at her. It was clear her anger and words were intended for her sister, but Zelena wasn't around for Emma to lash out at. "If she's bothering you, I can—"

"Please," Regina dismissively waved a hand and continued, "I might not like what she has to say, especially since it's truth, but it's not like she hasn't said it all a thousand times before. She's grasping at straws because she knows Henry's enough for me and she and I both know it."

"What seems to be the real problem then?"

"It's none of your business."

"I just explained to you why it is."

"Just because _you_ decided to become the Dark One in my place doesn't entitle you to pry into my personal life. I think you know that deep down."

"Maybe I do know that, but I'd rather know why things aren't easier for you. Why can't you relax and unwind and just...be happy with Henry and Robin and his kid?"

"Because of you."

Emma shook her head. "That's not a good enough excuse. I know everyone's trying to figure out how to change me back, but that shouldn't stop them from living their lives."

"Really? Because as I recall, every time you jumped at the opportunity to help or save me you left _your_ boyfriend behind without a second thought."

"That's different."

"Because it was you and not me?"

"No, because I don't love him as much as he seems to love me. You and Robin are solid."

Regina laughed. It wasn't entirely bitter, but it also wasn't a pleasant laughter either. "We're not."

Emma frowned and asked, "Why not?"

Regina huffed and decided she'd rather tell everything if it meant the other woman would leave her alone for a while. She needed a break from the blonde and she desperately needed a break from their conversation. "He thinks I spend too much time worrying about you, but it's not like his heart is really in this relationship much right now either."

Emma remained silent and Regina wondered if their talk was finally over. It wasn't. "He's never really been all that committed to you, has he?" While it normally would have been a question, Emma had said it as a statement.

Regina stared down at the table for a few seconds. Her anger with Emma started to dissipate while sadness and slight defeat took its place. She tried not to seem so affected by Robin's recent actions, especially when most of her thoughts were consumed with ways to get to Merlin and rid Emma of the darkness. Most of the time she hid her feelings well. Not just from Robin, but from Zelena and Henry and the Charmings. Well, David never really noticed her mood changes, but Snow knew her well enough to pick up on them. So far she hadn't detected any problems, which Regina thought being so consumed with saving Emma from the darkness had a large hand in that. She would have been thankful if she wasn't so rattled by the ways the darkness had already started to change the blonde.

When she looked up at Emma again, she saw a flicker of something in those green eyes. There was a sharpness in them she hadn't noticed before, but it disappeared in a flash as soon as she saw it. Emma didn't even have to blink before she looked more like herself.

"I promise you, Regina, you'll be happy."

"Maybe one day," she replied with a disbelieving tone. "Not likely anytime soon."

"Maybe sooner than you think." Emma vanished in wisps of dark blue smoke that looked all too much like the swirling vortex that had ripped her out of Storybrooke the night of her sacrifice. It sent chills down Regina's spine that affected her more than the goosebumps Emma's words had given her. She wasn't sure why Emma seemed so sure she'd be happy, but she worried about what Emma would do next to prove it.

* * *

Robin gathered fallen logs and the occasional twig along the Merry Men's camp in the woods. Little John walked beside him with his own stock of logs and things while Roland bumbled around and grabbed only what his tiny body could handle with a large smile on his face.

Robin looked down at his son and smiled at the six year old before he ruffled the boy's brown hair. Roland looked up at him and his smile almost seemed to brighten, although it didn't seem physically possible.

"That's a mighty fine collection you've got there," Robin complimented the boy. "I think we'll have ourselves the perfect fire thanks to your help."

Roland giggled and Little John flashed a fleeting smirk at the exchange between father and son. Robin turned to John and displayed a small, lopsided smile to his friend before he asked, "Do you think you have enough for the camp or shall we make a second trip?"

Little John shook his head. "This should last a few hours. If you think we need more, we can always get it later."

Robin nodded and faced forward again. He pressed his hand to the back of Roland's head and brushed his fingers against the boy's hair as they continued to move forward.

Suddenly, there was a sound to his right and it echoed throughout the woods. He looked left before he turned in the direction of the sound instead of its echo then stopped. He protectively threw his arm out in front of Roland and his hand pressed against his son's chest as the two of them and Little John stood completely still for a moment. Robin furrowed his brow as he listened to the woods for another indication that there was something else out there with him. He wasn't disappointed. There was another snap followed by rustling leaves.

"I think it might be a deer," Robin explained before Little John had even asked for his thoughts on what might be near. "Take Roland back to camp."

Robin pulled an arrow out of his quiver, all his kindling in one arm, as he looked around for another moment. He faced Little John as he added, "I'll see if I can round up some supper for us," he grinned.

Little John nodded and nudged Roland forward. "Come on. Let's bring our supplies back to the others, shall we?"

"Bye, Daddy," Roland said as he walked ahead at Little John's insistence and waved when he looked over his shoulder at Robin.

Robin waved back before he set down what his contribution to the fire that would no doubt be started without him. When Roland turned away from him, he focused his attention on the woods and then slowly crept past the tree line once again to hunt. It didn't take long before the hunter realized he was the one being hunted.

Another few snaps and more rustling drew his attention to his right. There was a rush of air at the back of his neck and he felt a presence behind him. He turned and in one fluid motion tried to raise his bow and arrow, but a hand reached out and grabbed his bow just as he found out what was in the woods with him.

"Oh," he said a second before he relaxed a little. "Emma. What are you doing here?"

He frowned when Emma snatched the bow out of his hand and watched her break it in half with her hands. His frown morphed into a grimace when he looked from the broken bow to Emma's eyes. She wasn't happy and her glare was filled with a fire he didn't understand.

"Emma?"

The blonde dropped the bow onto the ground and took a step closer to Robin. She cocked her head to the side and looked him over from head to toe and back again in a quick and unimpressed glance. When her eyes met his, her jaw tightened before she finally spoke.

"I don't know what your problem is, but you need to step up."

Robin looked even more confused by that than her overall displeased expression. "I don't…I don't understand."

"Yeah, I know you don't. That much is clear," Emma said. "I checked in on Regina."

There was a flicker of something in his eyes, like maybe he was starting to see why Emma was there.

"Why would you need to check on her? She's fine," Robin said.

Emma swooped in and made all the space between them disappear. Their noses nearly brushed in their proximity and even though she'd never spent more than a few minutes in the same place as him, had never had a real conversation with him ever, she was willing to be uncomfortably close to him for Regina's sake. "Of course you'd think she's fine. You don't pay her enough attention. I get that what Zelena did to you was wrong and there was no way you could've prevented—No, there actually was a way you could have prevented it. You could have stayed with Regina."

"She's the one that… _encouraged_ me to go to New York with my family. She told me that's what I needed to do. It was clear she didn't want—"

"Didn't want what? All Regina's ever wanted was to be loved. The fact that you were and yet again are her boyfriend, you should know that. She wasn't going to break up your family, but you didn't even _fight_ for her! You never even _chose_ her."

"I did. When I thought Marian was…" he trailed off, but Emma didn't let him even attempt to finish his sentence.

"Marian, despite her never actually being Marian here, was always your first choice. You always 'chose' Regina when it was convenient for you. When 'Marian' was dying, you went to Regina. When 'Marian' was okay again, you left Regina. When you found out Marian was Zelena, you said you couldn't leave her because she was pregnant with your kid. When you realized how messed up Zelena is and thought maybe you could fix things with Regina, you went back to her. Do you see what that could do to her? How that could _hurt_ her?"

Robin shook his head and looked at least a little regretful, but he still didn't seem to get it. Emma decided to push further.

"Do you see how that could upset someone like me," she asked.

"Someone like you," he responded with a question of his own, his voice a little higher pitched than usual.

"Someone who actually gives a damn about that woman."

"I care. Emma…I _love_ her."

"Not enough," she barked. "But you will. I promised Regina I'd give her a happy ending. I always keep my promises."

That was all the warning Robin had before Emma thrust a hand into his chest. She didn't tell him it would hurt. She didn't tell him it was going to be quick. She didn't tell him anything. She just plunged her hand into his chest and yanked when she had what she wanted. She wasn't gentle, wasn't careful, wasn't polite, didn't even pretend she was happy about what she was doing. She just did it.

He yelped as she pulled his heart from his chest and gave it a little squeeze just to show him who was in charge. He winced and bent over at the waist for a few seconds until she relieved the pressure. He took a deep breath and stared at her with wide, scared eyes.

"You're going to be the kind of man Regina deserves. She's going to be happy and you're finally going to be able to make her happy."

"Please," he breathlessly begged. "Don't—"

"Don't worry, Robin. I might be a monster, but I still have a heart," she grinned. "When you're with your son, you can be yourself as long as you don't say anything about what happened here. But when you're with Regina, you don't have a choice in the matter. Because you always seem to make the wrong one. Now go. You have some Merry Men to get to and a son that needs your attention."

He didn't move.

She flashed a bitter smile and breathed out a mirthless laugh as she shook her head. She raised the heart and spoke closer to it, "Go."

Robin backed away a few steps before he turned around and headed in the same direction Little John and Roland went.

Emma chuckled as she watched him leave and lowered the heart before she said, "Such a neat trick."

When Robin moved past the tree line and made himself visible along the side of the road, she left the woods and went her own way. She was determined to make Regina happy and she was determined to make Robin a part of that because he was what Regina wanted.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Brief mentions of Robin and Regina, but the conversation doesn't last long. Also, there are references to some of the earlier revealed spoilers for season 5 mentioned in this chapter.**

* * *

She had just taken a bite of lasagna, Henry's favorite and special requested meal of the night, when she heard the doorbell ring. She frowned and looked at her son before she glanced in the direction of the front door.

"You're not expecting anyone, are you," she asked after she swallowed her food.

Henry shook his head.

She stepped away from the dining room table and made her way to the door with a quizzical look on her face. She tried to see through the panel windows on either side of the door, but whoever was on the porch was distorted into a blurred figure of black attire and light skin. When she opened the door she was surprised to see Emma. The blonde, although her hair was more white than blonde since becoming the Dark One, leaned against one of the pillars. She looked a little too comfortable there and Regina was suddenly reminded of a nightmare she'd had years ago.

" _I didn't come for dinner."_

" _Then what did you come for?"_

" _You."_

"What are you doing here," Regina asked as she tried to shake herself out of her shock-induced trance.

"Nice to see you too, Regina," Emma greeted with an amused smile, her laughter silent but evident in her expression.

Regina sighed and stepped forward as she let go of the door handle. She stood on the porch with Emma, but kept a few feet of space between them. "Forgive me for not being more polite, but I haven't seen you in a week and I recently found out that I'm the only one who's seen you since we came back from the Enchanted Forest."

"You're not flattered to know you're the only one I've visited," Emma asked with a grin and remained against the pillar.

"No. Your parents are worried about you and Henry's starting to wonder if he did something wrong," she replied as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I stopped by for dinner," Emma said before she pushed off the pillar and moved closer to Regina.

"You just stopped by. For dinner. Unannounced," Regina said despite the need for a response to confirm she understood Emma correctly.

"Yeah. I thought I could see Henry and spend a little time talking to you. So, are you gonna let me in?"

"Why should I?"

"Well, for Henry's sake at least," Emma said as she dropped her grin and tried for a warm smile instead.

Regina wanted to roll her eyes, but she just stared. For some reason she couldn't look away and couldn't be as dismissive as she had been before Emma's sacrifice.

"Come on," the younger woman pushed with an overly sugary voice. "Let me in."

Regina dug her nails into her arms and tried not to gasp. She inhaled slowly and deeply and sighed with a hint of defeat, not sad about giving in but resigned to not being able to win that round before she stepped aside. She made room for Emma to pass her and felt the woman brush up against her as the blonde walked across the threshold.

"Henry, can you grab an extra plate," Regina called into the dining room a moment later.

"What? Why? We're almost done," she faintly heard in response as she and Emma headed toward him. As soon as they entered the dining room, Henry turned to see them both in the entryway. "Oh."

"Get Emma a plate, please? She might be able to serve herself, but she doesn't know where anything is in this house."

Henry nodded, his eyes a little wide as he looked between his mothers, and then slid his chair away from the table before he jogged into the kitchen.

Emma smiled as she watched him leaved. "I know I only met him when he was just a few inches shorter, but he's grown up a lot since he brought me here."

"Indeed," she quietly replied with a slightly far off voice, her eyes focused on the door he had temporarily disappeared behind.

She didn't notice Emma looking at her until she felt the other woman's hand on her elbow. Regina turned with doe-like eyes. She as surprised as Henry was a moment ago when he first saw the blonde. Her eyes wandered down to the hand on her elbow and stared at it long enough to make Emma let her go without saying a single word. It wasn't that she wanted Emma to pull away, but she wasn't sure she wanted Emma touching her at all. It was strange. Even when Emma had just been Emma, no Dark One title or powers, no noble sacrifice as the town's—and Regina's own personal—Savior, the younger woman had never touched her. She'd always been just close enough to touch, but never eliminated the small space that remained between them.

There had been a few times Regina had touched her, but that was different. That moment as Emma's hand had gently cupped her elbow was different. Things had changed, but that wasn't the only reason the touch meant...something else. Somehow, it meant more. But it couldn't have meant more. More than what? She wasn't even sure. Dinner, Emma at her house, it was a bad idea. She should have never invited Emma inside.

But it was far too late for that. She'd let the woman in before she'd given herself up to the pitch black vortex of all consuming darkness. And she would do it again and again every time after. It wasn't just about feeling guilty. Because there was guilt. She was at least partly responsible for Emma's sad childhood and Emma had believed in her, at least for a time, when no one else had. And Emma, despite a few biting comments, had always said she saw Regina as _Regina_.

The door to the kitchen swung open and Henry almost walked right into them with a plate in hand. "Food's on the counter," he said to Emma and then turned to Regina. "I wasn't sure if you were coming into the kitchen, too, or if I should just bring the plate out."

Regina smiled as she took the plate from him and carefully handed it over to the blonde while she kept her eyes on their son. "Bringing it out was fine. Thank you, Henry." She cupped the side of his face for a few seconds and stroked her thumb over his temple, which brushed wisps of his hair away from his face as she moved her thumb back and forth a couple more times.

Emma took the plate and walked past Regina and Henry into the kitchen. It didn't take long before she came back into the dining room with a large piece of lasagna on her plate.

"I swear you eat more now than you did before," Regina couldn't stop herself from saying.

Emma grinned and said, "How would you know unless you pay a lot more attention to me than you claim you do?" She set her plate down in front of the empty seat beside an Avengers cup at the table, Henry's spot, and sat down. "Well, are you two gonna join me?"

Regina nervously licked her lips a second before she guided Henry back to the table. Family dinner with the Dark One. It was a very odd end to the evening and she wasn't sure how she truly felt about it yet.

"So," Henry spoke up a little while later as he picked at the last remaining bits and pieces of lasagna on his plate. "Why didn't you come back to see us sooner?"

"Us?" Emma looked from Henry to Regina, confusion etched across her face until she saw Regina's wide eyes and pleading look. "Um, I saw your mom, actually."

Regina closed her eyes and sank in her chair. Henry was going to hate her. Again.

"Really," Henry asked and furrowed his brow as he turned to his brunette mother. "When?"

"Two weeks ago," Emma answered for her and placed a hand on Henry's shoulder. Her touch was gentle and she didn't force him to face her again. She only did it to gently pull his attention away from Regina. "I only saw her once and all we did was have a quick talk. I'm sure she thought if it was important she would have shared it with you."

"But seeing you _is_ important."

Emma shook her head. "I saw her and then I went away for another two weeks. If she told you that I'd come to see her, and not you, you might have been waiting for me to visit you. And then you'd be disappointed when a week, and then another one, came and went before I stopped by. She did you a favor."

"She still could have told me," he said as he eyes cut to Regina and he glared at her like he used to when he found the book and learned that he was adopted. The longer she looked at him the more it softened until the glare faded completely. He was still upset, but he didn't hate her.

"I could have. You're right," she agreed. "And I'm sorry I didn't, but Emma's also right. I didn't tell you because I didn't know what she wanted or how long she would be poking around. I just wanted to understand Emma's intentions before I said anything. Can you understand that?"

Henry looked back and forth between his mothers a few times. He gave it some thought from what Regina could tell by looking at his concentrated expression and then said, "Yeah. I get it. I don't like it, but I get it."

Regina faintly smiled at him, but the corners of her mouth fell into a less pleased expression when she looked at Emma again. Emma's eyes never left hers despite her dislike for the situation the other woman had put her in. Apparently being the Dark One meant she no longer backed down even when she realized Regina needed some time.

"Okay, Henry," Emma spoke up as she dropped her fork on her nearly empty plate. "Why don't you go put on a movie or something and Regina and I will join you in a few."

Henry looked at her skeptically while Regina looked a little angered that Emma had the audacity to invite herself over for dinner and a movie. Less than a minute passed before Henry went to the living room with a shrug, but as he left his mothers alone together Regina remained displeased.

Emma turned to her to see rage in her eyes that told her she'd crossed a line her darker half apparently hadn't noticed existed. She smiled, a little more like herself that time and a little timid before she shrugged much the same as Henry had.

"You're lucky Henry wants to spend time with you. Otherwise I'd kick you out right now," Regina practically growled.

"I know I'm lucky, but...is it really that bad having me here?"

Regina heavily sighed and closed her eyes as she dropped her head for a moment. It was the only response she gave Emma, but it was clear she didn't think it was bad enough having Emma there that she needed to complain about it. When she opened her eyes again and lifted her head, she saw Emma grinning at her. Regina rolled her eyes.

"So, aside from being fed, I actually came here to spend time with you, too. Maybe after Henry goes to bed, we can talk again," Emma asked.

Regina shook her head and replied, "What could we possibly have to talk about? I don't have a solution to you being the Dark One and not much has changed with me in the last two weeks. Unless you've been up to something in that time, I can't imagine there's anything either of us have to share."

Emma kept quiet and just stared at her for a moment with a hint of a smile, like there was something she _could_ share _if_ she wanted to. But by her silence, Regina assumed she _didn't_ want to.

"Although I suppose you could tell me where you went while you were away," Regina suggested with an overly casual tone that told Emma she wanted to know, but didn't want to sound too interested.

Emma chuckled and nodded before she answered, "Yeah, okay. I can tell you that. Uh, I found myself a house. A really nice house. You and Henry should come by. I can't cook much, but it's got a great kitchen. Feel free to lend a hand with dinner or something. Any time."

"I- I'll have to think about it."

Emma nodded again and looked down as she subtly made her arms sway at her sides for a moment. When she looked up at Regina again, she said, "So, how are things with Robin?"

Regina cocked an eyebrow, not surprised by the topic of conversation but not sure why Emma seemed so invested in her love life. She hadn't been even half as interested or persistent about it during Operation Mongoose and for Emma that had been solely about getting Regina her happy ending.

"Like I said, not much has happened in the last two weeks."

"Not much, but something?"

"Nothing with Robin. He and I have seen each other a few times, but..."

"But?"

"It's not the same."

"How so?"

"It's- He's- I'm not...sure we have all that much in common anymore. The only way we seem to connect is through the fact that we both have sons."

"What about romance? Does he do anything to sweep you off your feet," she cringed a little as she spoke, but Regina hadn't noticed.

A few seconds passed before Regina sadly shook her head. "No. We just...sit together and talk a little. We have dinner, we entertain Roland, sometimes Henry's there so Robin will talk to him, but there's no...no..." Regina couldn't seem to finish her sentence, couldn't find the right words.

"No passion," Emma finished for her. It was a statement, plain and simple and the deduction sounded like came from experience.

Regina looked up at her with a slightly shaken expression, like she wished it wasn't true but Emma's words had never been more accurate. "Yes. I like that we can spend time with each other with Henry and Roland around, like a family, but sometimes I miss it just being the two of us."

"What...would he do when it was just the two of you?"

Regina furrowed her brow and took a small step back. "I can agree to tell you a few things, Emma, but I'm not going to discuss my sex life."

"You mean your lack of a sex life," Emma pointed out with a small smirk. Regina didn't find the same humor in that statement.

"Well, it isn't like we've had time anyway."

"Wait, are you telling me that even though your relationship lacks passion right now, you'd still sleep with him?"

Regina looked over Emma's shoulder, checking to make sure Henry didn't walk back in while they discussed that particular subject, and replied when her eyes locked on Emma's again. "I would. Maybe that's why there isn't a spark or flutter right now. If you and your pirate were having the same problem, wouldn't you take him to bed to see if that fixed anything?"

"No," Emma said a little too loudly and looked over her own shoulder to make sure Henry wasn't interested in looking in on them because of her raised volume. She lowered her voice when she looked back at Regina, who looked both shocked and something else Emma couldn't quite explain. "I mean, I'd kiss him, maybe even kiss him a lot, but I wouldn't go _that_ far to try and get back to the way we were. Not if I wasn't in the mood or even interested in him anymore."

Regina immediately looked away when she heard that and moved back toward the dining room table to collect the dishes. Emma followed her as she cleared the table and took the dirty dishes to the sink.

"Regina...it's not..." Emma sighed as she stood behind and just slightly off to the side of Regina at the sink. "It's not terrible that you would have done that. It makes sense. But you asked me if I would do that, and with Hook, and my answer is no."

"It's not just that you wouldn't, it's _why_ you wouldn't."

"I didn't say why I wouldn't."

"You didn't have to," Regina flatly replied.

"Well, maybe Robin needs to step up his game. Don't you want to feel something _before_ you jump into bed with him? Things are so much better when you do."

Regina rolled her eyes, but Emma couldn't see that from where she stood. "As much as I _appreciate_ your help," which meant she didn't appreciate it at all, "I think I'll keep that part of my life to myself from now on."

"Oh, come on. What's the big deal? I'm just trying to figure you out."

" _Why?_ Why do you want to know all of this? It doesn't even affect you."

"I became the Dark One for—"

"For me, so I could be happy. You don't have to keep reminding me. I was there. And if I wasn't, your parents also like to mention how much you've done for me. So save your little speech because it's not going to get me to open up, especially when the specifics of why things aren't working out with Robin don't involve you. Your only concern after the sacrifice you made should be _if_ I'm happy and not _how_ I'm happy or not."

"If I don't know what's wrong, I can help you fix it."

"There's your problem. I never asked you to help me. I never asked you to fix it and I sure as hell didn't tell you to save me from the darkness."

"You don't have to ask. I'm your friend and friends help without having to be asked. It's what good people do."

"But you're not good anymore, are you," she phrased the question like a statement.

Emma looked a little hurt by that, but her sadness turned to anger in under a minute. She clenched her fists at her sides and glared at Regina. "I have dark tendencies. Good and evil is a ridiculous concept."

She was back to sounding more like Rumple in that moment. Regina cleared her throat and stepped away from the sink, and Emma, but didn't show any signs of fear. She pulled back from the conversation, but she did it not to further upset the other woman to ensure nothing drastic happened. "I think we should join Henry now before he barges in here asking us what's taking so long."

"Gladly," Emma bit out before she headed toward the living room with Regina on her heels.

* * *

Despite Regina's upsetting and mostly unhelpful information, not to mention the more hostile than friendly way they ended the night, Emma still had a promise to keep. So far she only seemed to be failing the brunette and while she was no stranger to failure, there wasn't a chance in hell she was going to fail Regina Mills. It was with that relentless determination of hers that she poofed to Regina's vault the next morning with Robin's heart and found a satchel she could wear around her waist that wouldn't stir up a lot of suspicion and then thought of the other woman and poofed to where she was.

It wasn't all that surprising to find herself in front of a very familiar black gate. It was closed like it was seven times out of ten so she sighed and unlatched the lock before she pushed the gate open and hesitantly made her way up the pathway. She slowed her pace as she approached the porch and stuffed her hands into the front pockets of her tight, black jeans. The action tugged down the waistband of her pants and left a gap between the hem of her shirt and flash of skin below the start of her pelvic bone. Aside from the lowered jeans, the situation she was in was almost like déjà vu. Only a few years had passed since she'd walked up to Regina's house so cautiously, but so many things had happened between then and the moment she admitted to Regina she'd wished not to be alone on her birthday. It felt like a lifetime ago.

She paused when she reached the porch step and peered through the windows to see where inside Regina might be. It was a little stalker-ish, but she would blame it on being the Dark One if anyone ever called her out on her overly-persistent behavior. She waited for several minutes before she saw Regina make her way down the stairs finishing her daily routine. She watched the brunette put in an earring before she turned and went to the side table in front of the only mirror on the first floor of the mansion.

Emma had to move to keep track of Regina, but found a good vantage point that allowed her to look in while the brunette fixed her makeup and grabbed her purse. From where she stood, she noticed Regina's attire and frowned because the woman still seemed to be trying too hard. She wore a skirt and silk blouse. There had been a few times since Robin had entered the picture that she'd actually worn pants, but the more Emma thought about it she started to realize she'd only worn skirts or dresses when she was back together with the guy. Emma had pointed out the specific wardrobe choices to Regina before, but it seemed that the brunette didn't care that she only favored the more "feminine" outfits when she was in Robin's company.

Emma's eyes scanned up Regina's body from her choice of footwear up to the necklace that drew attention to the open V of her partially unbuttoned blouse. Her eyes wandered higher and then she saw it. Regina stilled her movements after she'd finished applying her lipstick. She still held the tube in her hand, stopped halfway in her attempt to put it in her purse, and stared at her reflection for a long moment. Emma immediately noted the sadness and second guessing in those beautiful, always expressive brown eyes.

It was only 8am. The day had barely begun and already Regina looked worn out. It was heartbreaking.

Emma's eyes softened and her expression showed sympathy, maybe even empathy, the longer she stood outside. She stepped just a little closer to one of the side panel windows on either side of the front door and raised a hand to chest level before she slowly moved it toward the slightly distorted glass. When her fingertips gently touched the window, a few seconds passed as she lost herself in staring at the brunette as if gazing at her caused Emma to feel the other woman's pain. The moment was over as soon as Regina averted her eyes from the mirror. Emma blinked for the first time in a while and pulled away from the window just as Regina collected her belongings and headed toward the front door.

Dark blue smoke engulfed the blonde and she reappeared behind the tree in the front yard only a second before Regina opened the door and stepped onto the porch. Thankfully the lingering wisps of smoke faded away while Regina closed and locked the door behind her so when the brunette turned and walked down the pathway she was none the wiser that Emma had been there. At least as far as the blonde could tell because if Regina had seen or sensed her she hadn't outwardly reacted to Emma's presence.

From her hiding place, she watched Regina go to her Benz and between her time in front of the mirror and leaving the house something had changed. Her usual mask of authority and indifference was in place and her eyes no longer revealed the hurt she earlier appeared to have felt. Emma saw the change for what it was and understood it tenfold given where she stood behind a tree. Regina was hiding.

Emma clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides. She had no idea why Regina felt the need to hide, although she understood putting up walls, but she was sure she was going to have a serious talk with Robin about making Regina comfortable enough to open up. But not the next time she saw him, because the next time she saw him was at Regina's office.

That was where she followed Regina to, but follow wasn't exactly accurate because she spent a little more time at the house while she felt out where the brunette was every so often. She didn't have a car to drive after Regina and couldn't just poof into the Mercedes so she disappeared into the backyard, picked an apple from Regina's tree and ate it until she finally sensed Regina had stopped somewhere. The other woman was at Town Hall. She probably could have guessed Regina would have gone into work, but she didn't want to assume when more often than not in recent months she had spent her time away from the office. She probably also could have guessed Robin wouldn't have stayed away from Regina for long. It was great that the guy decided to be there of his own volition, not so great that he chose to see Regina so soon after Emma had robbed him of his heart, and worse that he was there at all because it kind of bothered her. She should have been happy he'd had the nerve to go to Regina, but then it made sense to her when she overheard the real reason behind his visit. Then she hadn't felt conflicted about not liking Robin being there despite her promise to give Regina the happy ending she wanted.

Emma tried to find an inconspicuous place to stand by and eavesdrop, which was a horrible thing to do. But she was the Dark One so she could have done worse things. She _had_ done worse things. The beating human heart that thumped against her hip and upper thigh was a constant reminder of that.

"Close the door," Emma heard Regina say from inside the office. She peered around the reception area as Robin pushed the door shut and she crept toward the office when she was sure she wouldn't be seen.

"I'm sorry I haven't… Things have been difficult. Complicated," she heard.

"You think I don't know that," came next and she knew without a doubt that was Regina.

"I…I wish things were different—"

"If you only agreed to come here to end things—"

"No! No, I-I still want to try. I just…I want you to know that this isn't easy, but I _am_ trying."

God, he was an idiot. And not the adorable kind, the frustrating kind.

For a moment, there was silence. When Regina didn't have a response it usually meant she was considering something. If she wasn't taking Robin's words to heart, she would have snapped at him or at the very least scolded him for wanting credit because it wasn't easy but he was "trying." She rolled her eyes as she thought, _He's only trying because he's scared of what I'll do to him if he fucks this up._

"Maybe a proper evening out might help," Robin suggested and Emma felt herself tense up.

That was not part of her plan. He was not supposed to go off on his own and try to, what? Woo Regina back into a comfortable relationship? No, he was supposed to wait for Emma's orders because her plan was to do some recon. She needed to find out what Regina liked and wanted and _then_ Robin could put on the charm and be the kind of person Regina deserved.

She gritted her teeth and quietly reached into the satchel. Without removing the heart from the satchel, she squeezed it hard enough to hurt but not enough to do any lasting damage. She heard a responding gasp and grunt from Robin inside the office.

"Robin? What's wrong," she heard Regina ask and Emma took a deep breath through her nose before she released Robin's heart a moment later.

Another gasp and a few seconds later, Robin replied, "Fine. It's…fine. Just felt a little unsettled for a bit. So…dinner?"

Emma waited with baited breath for Regina's answer, which came one extremely long moment after Robin had asked the question.

"Dinner. Yes."

"Lovely. Tonight? 8 o'clock?"

There wasn't a verbal answer from what Emma could hear, but when Robin spoke again it was clear to her that Regina had responded in some way.

"At your place," he asked.

A few seconds later, Emma heard Regina say, "See you then." She was a little disappointed that Regina had agreed, but from the sound of it Regina didn't seem too enthusiastic about the date. Of course, it was hard to tell through a closed door.

"Right," Robin said. "See you then."

When Emma heard footsteps headed her way, she poofed out of Town Hall and paced around outside. She wasn't done learning about Regina and since Robin had set a date with her that evening she had very little time to observe the brunette for a better understanding of what would make her happy.

It took a couple of minutes before she watched Robin walk out of the building and wander off. He looked a little hopeful and given that he'd managed to get a date with Regina she would have been upset if he hadn't been in good spirits after that. She huffed out a breath through her nose and continued to watch him until he disappeared from view. Once he was out of sight, her thoughts drifted back to Regina and only Regina.

She turned to look up at Town Hall and took a moment to herself before she went inside. Without using her magic. It wasn't really necessary to poof back into the building and maybe a small part of her knew that the more she used magic for simple tasks the less human she became. Dark impulses or not, she still had her mind. She knew right from wrong, but she was more inclined to make the wrong decisions if it met her needs, selfish ones or not.

For the most part there was nothing to note, though. It was quiet behind the closed office door for the first hour and then a few phone calls were made and then silence again. Nothing personal to file away, but she didn't have anything to do or anywhere else to be as the Dark One. Regina was her priority. She wasn't sure when that had happened, but it was a huge reason she had gone for a waterless swim in a swirling vortex.

But when Regina took a late lunch, she didn't come back. Emma followed her around town as she stopped in at a few places. Regina went to the grocery store first, which surprised Emma but okay. Maybe Regina needed a few things that couldn't wait until after work. When she followed Regina to the liquor store, though, Emma realized the woman had no intention of going back to the office.

She walked into the store and trailed behind Regina at a safe distance, like she would if they were in cars, and pretended to be interested in almost every third bottle of alcohol she passed. Occasionally she looked back over at Regina and spent long moments at a time with her focus on flickering brown eyes.

Regina's gaze flited from one bottle to the next with interest in the wine section. She gave each one a quick glance, but seemed to also give them each a good amount of consideration in that short amount of time. At least that's what Emma could tell since it took Regina almost five full minutes before she actually pulled a bottle off the shelf.

The brunette read the back of the label for a short while before she put it back and grabbed another wine that apparently caught her eye earlier. Regina's process captivated Emma. It wasn't the way Emma would have gone about getting wine, but then again Regina was a woman of class in any world. She made informed decisions while Emma made impulsive or money-oriented or _the easy way_ decisions. Regina actually put real thought into her choices, the actions she took because of those choices.

Satisfied with the second bottle she'd picked, Regina turned and started toward Emma—which instantly made the blonde shuffle over to the next aisle—and between touching a few bottles like an actual paying customer she glanced over to watch Regina walk up to the register.

"Will that be all," she heard the woman at the register ask.

"Yes, thank you," Regina replied.

Emma grabbed a bottle of white wine without a care as to what it was and made her way toward the register. She hadn't caught the label on the wine Regina had chosen and she would look less like a creep if she just casually ran into Regina as though it was a coincidence.

As Regina payed, Emma reached the register and her mere presence behind the other woman seemed to pull Regina's attention away from the woman behind the counter. Those beautiful eyes found hers in an instant and almost forgot to feign shock because she was so effortless pulled into Regina's gaze.

"Hey."

"Hey," Regina responded almost in the same tone she had when they'd shared the same awkward greeting in Neverland.

"I thought some alcohol might be just what I needed with dinner tonight," Emma lamely supplied as her excuse for her being there. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you," she replied and then looked her over before she asked, "Dinner with the pirate?"

Emma shook her head. "Dinner alone. You?"

Regina reluctantly answered, "Robin."

Emma slowly nodded her understanding, careful not to do anything to give away that she already knew Regina's evening plans, and then looked anywhere but at Regina for a moment.

"Here's your change," the cashier said.

Regina turned around as Emma looked up at the woman behind the counter and then her eyes drifted back to the brunette.

"Thank you," Regina said and grabbed her wine before she spun back around and looked at Emma. "Well, I've got a dinner to prepare."

"Yeah. Yeah," Emma said with a faked smile.

Regina started to leave, but on her way out she stopped. "Oh, I…since I'm having dinner with Robin at the house, would you mind if Henry stayed with your parents?"

"You've never asked me that before," Emma noted.

"Because it's never mattered before. Henry's always either been with them or with me, but after what happened… You're still upset with them, aren't you?"

"A little, but…I'd rather him stay at the apartment then make your date a…family thing," she cringed as used those words.

Regina flashed a tight-lipped smile. She didn't seem too comfortable with the conversation either so she quickly ended it. "I just thought I'd ask because despite of that's happened, he's still _our_ son."

Emma took a deep breath before she said, "Well, I don't think there would have been much of a discussion if I wasn't the Dark One now. Before, if I was still angry with them and you'd still made a date with Robin, it wouldn't have mattered that I didn't want Henry there. You would have told me to get over it."

"Actually, I probably would have let him stay with you," Regina said before she realized that had probably made things worse. Her eyes widened a little when she grasped how that might have sounded, but Emma was quick to assure her what had been said wasn't taken offensively.

"Which would mean he'd also be staying with them because I might not have had my own place under different circumstances," she said with a disarming smile, and it wasn't at all faked that time.

Regina smiled back, but it was small and a little tense. Emma didn't hold it against her. Like Regina's way of choosing the right wine for the occasion, their relationship while she was the Dark One was a process.

"Well, enjoy your dinner." Regina was about to leave again, but as she started to walk away Emma realized she still hadn't figured out what wine she'd picked.

"Wait. Maybe you can help me." Regina raised a brow in response. "I'm not great with wine. Maybe you could give me a few tips?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "What are you planning on making for dinner?"

"Hadn't really committed to anything yet."

Regina sighed and took the bottle out of Emma's hand. She looked it over before she let out a displeased groan and then shook her head. She handed the bottle back and said, "You don't want that."

"Really? I haven't even decided what I'm gonna have it with."

"I can tell you right now that wine is awful no matter what you make," Regina gave her a pointed look before she added, "or order."

"Okay, so what do you suggest?"

Regina headed back toward the wine section and Emma, like many times before, instinctively followed her.

"If you want a white wine, which is best paired with lighter foods, you'll want something along this selection," Regina said and motioned toward a row of insanely fine wines. Insane because the prices were a lot higher than Emma had ever paid for a bottle of wine before in her entire life.

"What if I want a red wine," Emma asked, knowing full well her eyes were uncontrollably wide while she continued to look at the prices.

"You have a white in your hand," Regina mentioned and her eyes slid to the bottle in question.

"I told you I wasn't committed to any dinner ideas. What did you get?"

Regina seemed to give it some thought before she relented and pulled her purchase out of the paper bag the cashier had placed it in. "Pinot Noir."

"Why that one?"

"It's best with what I'm making for dinner. Unlike you, I'm committed to an idea," the brunette mocked. "Grilled salmon."

"Wow. That actually sounds really good. I'm probably going to just do something simple. Like mac and cheese."

"You want to have _wine_ with mac and cheese," Regina asked, baffled by that information.

Emma shrugged.

Regina shook her head and replied, "You not only eat like a child. You are one."

Even though Regina didn't at all approve of Emma's food choice, the other woman still helped her make a choice. As they headed toward the front of the store again, Emma spoke up. "Aside from pairing your wine with what you eat, is that your favorite red wine?"

"Yes."

"Would it be weird if I wanted to know why?"

"You seem to ask that question a lot. But if you really want to know, I prefer the taste. Strong but fruity."

"Funny, I think there are few people that might actually describe me that way," Emma mused to herself. "Thanks. I guess I'll see you later. Enjoy your date."

Emma walked the rest of the way to the register with her Regina-approved Merlot that she absolutely did not need and smiled at Regina's retreating form while the cashier rang up her total.

* * *

 **Note: Emma does know things about Regina prior to her recon right now, but there's a reason I didn't bring it up in this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Some things about season 5 might stay the same as they are in the show, but other things (like how Emma's attitude as the Dark One) will be my original take on the Dark Swan arc.**

* * *

With only a few hours before the date, Emma was losing time to talk to Robin and only had a small amount of information to share with him. It had to be enough. She at least knew how she thought Robin should treat Regina, how he should listen to her and smile and not put anyone else except Roland before her. And _that,_ without a doubt, was enough.

She wasn't exactly sure where Robin was staying, though. That was a problem. She thought about their usually limited interactions and where she'd found him with Little John and Roland when she'd yanked his heart from his chest. He always smelled like forest so even if he didn't live in the woods, it was likely she'd find him there again. So she made her way to the edge of the woods and started to take a walk. She had no sense of time as she wandered along the tree line. She had a purpose, but she wasn't worried. Plus, Robin was a frustrating idiot, but not entirely dense. Once she found him, she figured they only needed a ten minute conversation about what to do when he was alone with Regina later. But he wouldn't be completely alone with Regina. Hell no. After what happened at the office, she didn't trust him to even use common sense with the woman and there was no way Regina's happy ending was with a box of hair, because that was basically all he amounted to in Emma's eyes.

It was closer to sunset by the time she ran into Robin. He was at the Merry Men's camp, not too far into the woods and close to Granny's. She still had no idea if he lived at the camp with the rest of his men, but he was there at that moment. That was all Emma cared to know.

She sauntered over to him with sharp, but not necessarily angry, eyes directed at the camp as she glanced around at the Merry Men's not quite modernized way of life. Little John was smiling happily as he helped Roland cook something on the fire while three other men were gathered around each other talking, laughing, enjoying themselves. A little farther away from the rest of the group, Emma noticed familiar muscles and long, dark hair pulled back in a loose and slightly messy ponytail. Mulan?

As if the other woman heard her thoughts, Mulan turned toward the group and made her way to the log by the fire that Little John and Roland sat on. When she came to stand next to them, she caught Roland's attention by running her hand through his hair. When the boy looked up and smiled at her, Mulan's eyes filled with wistfulness.

Emma didn't understand it. The sadness didn't leave her eyes when she looked away from Roland and finally noticed that Emma was there, but it wasn't just a general sadness. Mulan had been through something and still hadn't seemed to have gotten over it. Emma recognized that much.

"Emma," Mulan greeted with a small bow of her head, a sign of her respect. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know, I had a sort of career change." Mulan furrowed her brow, confused by that. Emma explained, "I'm not the Savior anymore. I'm the new Dark One."

Mulan's shoulders slumped when she exhaled and her eyes dulled a little more. She seemed tired and possibly defeated. Or maybe just resigned to everything that happened past and present.

"I'm actually here to talk to Robin," Emma said after a moment. "He around?"

Mulan stood there for a moment before she looked down at the ground and nodded. She looked up and motioned with her head to a spot near two other Men in the distance behind her. Emma followed Mulan's movement and found him talking with the Men. He didn't seem overly enthusiastic, but he wasn't sad or upset or even worried. After the heart-squeeze in Regina's office, she figured he might have been looking over his shoulder a little more. Instead, he seemed content.

"Thanks," Emma said and smiled at Mulan before she made her way over to Robin. As she approached, she grabbed his attention by calling out to him. "I hear you've got plans tonight."

He turned to Emma immediately. He lost the careless twinkle in his eyes almost immediately. "Let's speak privately, shall we?" It was the first thing out of his mouth. Emma didn't exactly blame him for wanting to keep their conversation confidential, but it did amuse her. She couldn't hide her grin because of that.

The two of them walked off to a quiet spot away from everyone else. They even went so far as to stand behind a tree.

"So, you have a date with Regina," Emma stated with scowl on her face.

He sighed and gulped before he made eye contact with her again. "How did you hear that? Did Regina tell you?"

"More like _you_ told me."

His face twisted into a familiar look of constipation, one he expressed often in times of confusion. How did Regina find that at all attractive?

"You think it was a coincidence that your chest hurt when you asked her out," Emma asked to help him understand.

Realization flickered in his eyes then. "I thought you wanted me to—"

"I didn't want you to do anything until I told you what to do. That's how this is going to work. You do what I say when I say it."

"No offense, _Dark One_ , but I'm dating Regina. Why should I be taking cues from you how to date her?"

"Because you've screwed up one too many times. Regina's…she's been through a lot in her life. She deserves so much more than what you seem to be giving her. She's not happy and I'm here to make sure she is."

"Is that really your job?"

Emma let out a frustrated sigh and reached into the satchel. She gave his heart a squeeze and that time he actually fell to his knees as he clutched his chest.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear," she growled while she bent over at the waist and towered above Robin. "You aren't making her happy. I promised her I'd get her a happy ending. It's a promise I intend to keep."

"But…" he struggled to speak. "You aren't seeing her. I am."

"Yeah, and _you_ aren't doing anything right," she squeezed a little harder and he yelped. "You should be less concerned about what I'm doing and more about what you _should_ be doing. For Regina."

He vigorously nodded from his position on the ground, one hand pressed into the dirt and the other gripped tightly at his shirt as he clawed at the pain in his chest they both knew he couldn't physically stop. Only Emma could and she would, if only he gave her a reason to stop. In that moment, it he nod was reason enough. But just barely.

Emma released his heart and moved her hand out of the satchel. He coughed and sputtered. He gasped several times before he slowly stood up. He used the tree to pull himself back onto his feet, his fingers curled around bits of bark and it collected under his fingernails while his hands scraped against the tree.

"I'm glad we have an understanding," Emma said. "Now, a few things you should be aware of while you're on this date of yours. Make the night all about her. Smile a lot. Don't be rude and don't be sleazy."

"Sleazy? What kind of man do you take me for," he asked.

"You _don't_ want to know the answer to that," she replied. "Next time you ask Regina on a date, you make sure I know about it first. Got it?"

He took a moment before he nodded, his eyes cast down. He looked like a kicked puppy and it didn't take long for Emma to realize she didn't care.

"Good," she said. "Remember what I told you about tonight and everyting'll be fine. Go spend some time with your son and keep in mind how special Regina is."

He furrowed his brow and stared at her with a puzzled expression while he watched her leave. She felt his eyes on her even when she had her back turned to him. She chuckled under her breath as she walked away from the Merry Men's camp and hoped she didn't have to keep hurting him because for some reason Regina actually liked the guy. To hurt him meant if she ever knew what Emma had done to him, it would hurt Regina too. There was also the fact that she really didn't want have to touch his heart more than absolutely necessary. It was gross to hold an enchanted heart. It was like squeezing a stress ball except it was squishy with human muscles instead of manufactured foam. And touching _Robin's_ heart? That made her feel much closer to him than she _ever_ wanted to be.

When she was far enough from the camp, Emma noticed the change in Robin's heartbeat. While she was there, before and during the time she squeezed, Robin's heartbeat had quickened. Once she was out of sight and a few minutes had passed, he seemed to have calmed down. She figured it was good that she scared him. Maybe he would do what she said and maybe there was real hope for making Robin into someone that could make Regina truly happy.

* * *

She didn't want to be there. As much as she needed to make sure Robin didn't screw up, she really didn't want to watch him on a date with Regina. It was weird and she really didn't like the guy, but more than that it was uncomfortable to supervise a date. If it was Henry's date she was looking in on, it would be one thing. He was a teen and she was his mother. Watching a grown woman's date that could actually lead to more than a painfully awkward first kiss was something else.

But Emma had to be sure Robin listened to her, did as she'd suggested. She might have been watching Robin like a hawk, but she was looking out for Regina. _That_ was her main concern.

She followed them when they moved around the house, but she stuck to the walls on the outside. She went around the corner when they made their way into a sitting room to the left of the front door. She peered in through the window next to a tall bush and tried to hear through the glass what was being said, in case Robin said the wrong thing. Unless they raised their voices and enunciated, however, she only heard mumbling.

When they moved to the kitchen, she waited outside in the backyard in front of a window near the dining room. She didn't have the best look at the room and she knew she wasn't going to have much luck overhearing the conversation just as she hadn't when they were in the sitting room. After thirty minutes of watching Regina smile and Robin gently rub her forearm every so often, Emma wasn't too appreciative of that. It didn't quite surprise her, but she thought she would have been able to stomach seeing her own advice in action.

The plates of half-finished food were forgotten and Regina looked, well, she didn't look head over heels happy, but her eyes sparkled and she leaned in. Emma's heart thundered against her chest, her eyes widened, and her breathing went from controlled to erratic. Time slowed as she watched Regina initiate a kiss and as soon as their lips made contact, Emma spun around and turned away. She couldn't watch. That was way more shocking to her than anything else. She wanted them to be together, because Regina wanted it. Then she remembered the conversation she'd had with Regina about not having time to find passion in her relationship with Robin. As soon as she gave that some thought, she knew that was the reason she had to get some space from the intimate date. She wanted Regina to be happy, but she didn't want Regina to have sex with Robin just to see if she could feel something again. She closed her eyes and her shoulders slumped when she roughly exhaled.

She felt a little sick and maybe kind of hollow. She wasn't exactly sure what she felt because part of her wanted to run, the way she used to run before Henry brought her to Storybrooke, and part of felt a twisted urge to _do_ something. Part of her, the sometimes more overpowering part, wanted to barge into the house and make it stop. She wanted to yank Robin away from Regina despite having watched Regina initiate the kiss. Robin wasn't ready for Regina. He wasn't yet worthy of her time let alone her love. Emma fed him enough information to get him through a nice and _respectful_ evening, but Regina was still willing to chase passion and fire that apparently wasn't there. Although the smiles they'd shared while they ate told Emma otherwise.

She opened her eyes, which were sharper than they were before she'd closed them, and clenched her fists tightly at her sides. Her pale skin turned red on the backs of her hands, her knuckles bright white with her tension. She kept herself tightly wound and resisted her urge to break up the date. It was for Regina's happiness. She had to contain herself and her impulses if she expected to give Regina what she deserved, what Emma herself had sacrificed to give her. With shaking arms and hands, she faced the window again and tried to calm down before she peeked back through it. When she looked, her eyes locked on Regina and Robin standing close but not kissing. They'd broken apart during Emma's moment of weakness and for that the blonde was glad. It was a lot easier to fight the urge to do bad things if she wasn't tempted in the first place.

Regina had her hands on his shoulders. She continued to touch him, but it was different. It was the kind of touch Emma could actually bear to see even though she still wasn't pleased it was even happening. Her behavior was indicative of jealousy. That much she understood. It was frustrating, but she was more upset with herself that she was extremely close to acting out due to how she felt.

Emma watched Regina flash a quick but soft and warm smile at Robin and then move away from him. She started to clear the table, stacked Robin's plate on top of her own and then grabbed her wine glass. Robin followed her lead. He didn't offer to help and he only took his own wine glass to the kitchen. He held the door open for Regina, but only after she opened it for herself. Emma practically growled like a feral animal waiting to attack in response to Robin's minimal effort to help with the clean up. She leaned toward the window and wondered if it was a waste of time to continue to stand there. They'd changed rooms once before so it was possible they'd do it again. As soon as Emma became impatient a few minutes later, she made her way back to the front door.

When she reached the front of the house, still off to the side of the door, she heard something near the neighbor's yard and turned for a moment in case it was more than the wind or a bunny or something. She started to move toward the shrubs that separated Regina's property from the next house on the block, but when she was out of the shadows the next sound she heard came from behind her. She whipped around and saw Regina's front door open. Robin walked out before he turned, his back to Emma when he did, and she witnessed the other woman go through a polite dismissal of her date. At least things hadn't made it to the bedroom, or any other available surface in the house. That was something _Regina_ wasn't ready for, not if she was trying to force something that wasn't there.

Emma threw herself backward into the bushes. Her cheeks were both tickled and scratched by the prickly landscaping when she hurried to disappear from sight. She could have poofed out of there, but she wanted to stay and watch Robin leave. Poofing also wouldn't have been subtle at all.

She witnessed a few more smiles exchanged between them, but Emma couldn't tell from that far away and squished inside thick bushes if the expressions were genuine or not. It didn't matter a moment later when she noticed there was no goodnight kiss before Robin took a few steps back and then left. She waited a few minutes once he was out of sight and the front door was closed with Regina somewhere in the house on the other side of it before she stepped out into the yard.

She picked the needles from the bushes out of her hair and brushed them off her shoulders before she finally poofed back to her new home, which was large and empty and she suddenly understood how Regina must have felt when Henry had stayed at the apartment with the Charmings. Being in such a big space and no one to share it with was incredibly lonely.

She sighed as she looked around at the dark and barely furnished place, her mood dampened as soon as she lost her focus on Regina. When her attention shifted from the other woman to her own life, there was only pain and sadness and Dark One thoughts. Maybe she didn't just need to focus on Regina's happiness to keep a promise or to ensure her sacrifice hadn't been in vain. Maybe she needed to focus on Regina to keep herself sane.

The realization that came with that thought hit Emma like a ton of bricks. She needed a drink. Thankfully, she had a brand new bottle of Merlot. She popped the cork and poured herself a more than generous glass, which was about the only thing Emma had of her own in the house.

With nothing to distract her from her conflicting thoughts about helping Regina be happy and the constantly resurfacing thoughts about death, torture, and all out destruction she was easily very determined to drink her problems away. She grabbed her glass and quickly brought it to her lips, but before she had the chance to drink a single sip her phone vibrated on the counter. She furrowed her brow and lowered the glass just a little when she reached for her cell. There was a new text message from Regina, which was at first surprising and then, after she gave it some thought, a little terrifying. Regina had no reason to contact her unless she knew Emma had spied on her all night.

She took a hurried breath before she opened the message. As soon as she read it, she blinked and furrowed her brows as she pondered the words on the screen.

 **Where are you?**

She had no idea how to respond. Either Regina was pissed off and wanted to yell at her or she needed something. Regina never just wanted to know Emma's whereabouts without damn good reason. She typed a vague response in case she was in trouble with the brunette.

 _Home_.

It didn't take long before she received another message.

 **What's the address?**

Still unsure about Regina's intentions, Emma replied: _Why do you want to know?_

 **If I decide that Henry and I should, at some point, go over for dinner I'll need to know where I'm going.**

 _Is that the only reason you want to know?_

 **Is there another reason I SHOULD want to know where you live?**

 _I'd like to think we're past you wanting to kill me._

 **That depends. What have you done?**

Emma almost dropped the phone and walked away, not wanting to go down that road with Regina. Instead, she stared at the text for a few more seconds before she formed a reply.

 _I'll give you the address if you promise not to harass me._

 **I can't promise that.**

 _Why not?_

 **I've known you far too long now to know that eventually you do something to annoy me. Like refusing to give me your address.**

 _My lair is sacred._

 **Idiot. Just give me the address.**

Emma hadn't even realized she'd been smiling, but her lips were curled upward and stretched brightly across her face as she gave Regina what she wanted. Consequences be damned.

Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang and startled her while she was in the middle of making mac and cheese. So much for blaming _all_ of her behavior on being the Dark One. What Dark One had ever jumped in response to a doorbell?

Emma didn't bother to check the peephole before she opened the door. Her eyes widened at the sight of Regina on the other side with a container of what Emma guessed were some kind of leftovers. She guessed right.

"I brought you some salmon," Regina said in place of a typical greeting.

" _This_ is why you wanted my address?"

"It's why I wanted to know before the end of the night, but I would have needed to know eventually if I do take you up on your dinner invitation."

Emma was caught off guard, so much so that the two of them awkwardly stood in the doorway before Regina asked, "May I come in?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah, of course." She stepped aside and motioned for the brunette to come inside. Regina didn't hesitate.

Emma's eyes roamed over Regina's back and settled on her plump rear in the same tight dress she'd worn for her date. The blonde's eyes glazed over as she took her sweet time closing the front door, far too distracted by her sudden and intense desire to run her hands up smooth, olive thighs. She imagined pushing up the hem of the dress and teasing Regina through her panties, imagined watching Regna's eyes roll into the back of her head with pleasure.

"Please tell me you aren't seriously making macaroni and cheese right now." Regina's voice snapped her out of her fantasy, a fantasy she was definitely blaming on being the Dark One, and licked her lips before she could respond to the other woman.

"I didn't know you were coming over. And I told you earlier I was thinking about it."

" _Thinking_ about it. You weren't sure. I'm just glad I got here when I did."

"Well, if you'd texted me sooner I wouldn't have bothered at all. I just started making it a little while ago."

Regina found her way to the kitchen easily enough and Emma followed behind her. Almost as soon as they stepped into the other room, Regina's attention went to the low hum of an appliance.

"It's the single serve, _microwavable_ kind," Regina asked and spun around to face her, completely appalled by the knowledge Emma hadn't even attempted to make a decent effort at dinner.

Emma shrugged. "I don't see the point in making something for just me if it takes longer to cook it than it does to eat it."

Regina rolled her eyes and then turned toward the microwave. She pushed it open in the middle of the countdown and removed the frozen dinner. "Do you have any plates?"

"Uh, no. Haven't really gone out a lot lately." It wasn't a complete lie. The only time she left the house was to discreetly do things for Regina's benefit.

"For a 'sacred lair' you certainly haven't put much into this place," Regina noted. A second later, she conjured a plate with a flick of her wrist.

Emma just stared. She watched Regina put the salmon on the plate and slide it into the microwave before she heated it up in place of Emma's poor excuse of a meal.

"I see you didn't waste any time before enjoying the Merlot."

"You know, Regina, mac and cheese is just pasta. Wine is paired with pasta all the time."

"Of course you'd validate your dinner choice that way. The salmon will be much better."

"I never said I was turning down a home cooked meal," she clarified.

The microwave beeped and Emma moved to the silverware drawer while Regina retrieved the plate. When she turned to Regina with a fork and a knife in hand, Regina looked at her with an expectantly raised eyebrow. Emma smiled in response and explained, "These I stole from my parents. Magic is fun, but it's also very useful."

"You couldn't rob your parents of plates when you stole those, dear?" Regina sighed and subtly shook her head. "Well, I just came by to give you a good meal since I had leftovers and assumed you probably weren't lying about your plans for macaroni and cheese."

Regina handed the plate of salmon over to Emma and started to head back to the door, but the younger woman wasn't ready for her to leave yet.

"Wait," she said and Regina turned around. She almost always turned around when Emma called out to her. "Are you serious about thinking of bringing Henry over?"

"I wouldn't keep him from you unless you gave me reason to think he wasn't safe with you," Regina said. "Although I don't want him here by himself."

"I get that. Funny how the tables have turned, right? It wasn't all that long ago I didn't want him alone around you either," she nervously laughed and stuffed her hands into her front pockets like she had before when she'd cautiously approached Regina's porch.

"You wouldn't have to know what this feels like if you'd just let the darkness take me," Regina said, her eyes filled with sadness and concern.

Emma smiled and shook her head. "Not a chance."

Regina pursed her lips and quietly cleared her throat as she looked away for a moment. She shifted in place for another couple of seconds before she met Emma's gaze again and said, "Well, I should go. I'm sure as much as Henry loves your brother, he doesn't want to spend the night with a crying baby waking up at all hours and disrupting his sleep."

Emma nodded and looked down at the floor as she pushed her hands deeper into her pockets. She felt a draft hit her lower abdomen, most likely exposing fair skin below her waist as she did. "Tell him I said goodnight?"

"I will."

"Thank you.

"For what?"

Emma hesitated before she answered, "Dinner. Considering bringing Henry here sometime. Passing along messages to him for me. Thank you for a lot of things."

Regina flashed a smile, a little unsure but still warm and friendly. She nodded then and said goodnight before she turned and made it all the way to the door. Emma didn't stop her. She even held the door open for the brunette and she watched her go.

Green eyes fixated on Regina as she walked to the curb, started the Mercedes, and drove off. She stood outside for a while, her eyes trained on the last place she'd been able to see the Mercedes before it disappeared from view. Her earlier thoughts about pushing up the hem of Regina's dress were sudden and unexplainable, but they weren't important. She had to stay focused, had to get Regina her happy ending. She was the Dark One, she had Robin's heart, and she was in control of herself ever since she'd taken back the dagger before their return to Storybrooke. As soon as she figured out what was keeping Regina from being happy, she'd use every advantage she had to give Regina anything she needed and everything she wanted.

"Even if it kills me," Emma vowed.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days passed without incident. Emma hadn't needed to resort to her Dark One ways and as far as she knew, Robin and Regina hadn't spoken since their date. That should have concerned her, what with being the person who wanted Regina's happiness more than anyone, but she wasn't bothered in the slightest. The less time she had to spend coaching Robin through how to be a good boyfriend the better. She also selfishly appreciated that they hadn't seen each other because she didn't like Robin and she didn't like how Regina changed when she was around him.

That morning she felt lighter than she had since she made her sacrifice. She didn't wake up to the harsh reality that she was on a mission to stop Robin from screwing up or protecting Regina from herself. She didn't have to worry that day, at least not just yet. She had time to do what she wanted and what she wanted was to take a little more pride in her new home. Regina had a point the other night about not putting much effort into a place she considered sacred, so she went out to pick up a few things. Plates, more glasses—and not just wine glasses—a nightstand, and a decent sized TV. If Henry ever did come over for dinner she wanted to make sure she'd have something to entertain him, to help him feel comfortable in a new environment and an otherwise _un_ comfortable situation. She figured it was an important time in his life to give him something familiar if only to allow him the opportunity to distract himself. Because a lot had changed in his life and in such a short amount of time. She knew how that felt, the constant shift in surroundings and the revolving door of people that came and went throughout her life. Just as she was determined to make Regina happy, she was determined to make everything easier for Henry, easier than it ever was for her, and as painless as possible.

The cashiers that rang up her orders asked her if she wanted the items delivered, but because she was even more private than ever before she didn't disclose her address. At that point, Regina was the only one that knew where she lived and she planned to keep it that way for as long as possible. She responded to the delivery question with a flick of her wrist and poofed all her purchases directly to her house.

She was on her way home to set everything up the non-magical way—to keep her hands busy—when she drove past the hospital and noticed Regina make her way inside. Emma had a brief moment of panic that something had happened to either her or Henry, but she calmed when she recognized the entrance as non-emergency. That was something at least.

Curiosity nagged her anyway and that was how she found herself turning into the hospital parking lot and following the brunette inside the building. She kept a comfortable distance as she would if she were tailing a car and followed Regina down a set of stairs into the basement. The _basement_. For all the times Emma had been in the hospital, she was only familiar with the ER, ICU, and that one supply closet she'd dragged Regina into a few years ago. But of course in a town like Storybrooke the hospital had a basement, and it wasn't used for storage.

Regina slowed her pace as she approached the reception desk of the psych ward and pulled something out of her jacket. Emma hung back, but peeked around the corner to watch the entire exchange.

"Over thirty years and it never gets old," Emma heard the orderly at the desk say. "Everyone may have seen you as the Evil Queen, but through all your stages in life you've always only ever been one thing, Regina Mills."

"And what's that," Regina asked with a slightly husky voice Emma hadn't heard in a while.

"Smooth," the blonde orderly with pinned up hair replied with a grin before she lifted a rose to her face and smelled it.

Emma's eyebrows instantly shot up. A female orderly had just called Regina smooth, she'd flirted with her, and that was after _Regina_ had given her a _rose_.

Regina hummed in response and Emma was sure that if she'd been able to see Regina's face she would have seen a smirk. After a moment, Regina dropped the teasing and asked, "How has she been recently?"

Emma frowned. She?

"No more trouble than she was before. She just sits in the corner of the cot most of the time. She only ever speaks when she's antagonizing you during your visits."

"Figures. Just…make sure she eats? She's pregnant and stubborn and…"

"And she's your sister," the orderly finished Regina's sentence. "I understand and I've been keeping an eye. She doesn't like being here, but she's only a handful when you're around."

Emma watched Regina tense and stand up rigidly straight when she heard that bit of information.

"Well, I suppose I should have expected that. Thank you." Regina stepped away from the desk and disappeared down the hall, apparently going to visit Zelena.

Emma turned and pressed her back against the wall. She closed her eyes and sighed as it all came crashing down on her. Whatever issues Regina and Zelena had, Emma hadn't made it any easier on the brunette by unwittingly bringing Zelena back from the Enchanted Forest. Maybe Regina had been right and she should have just let Marian die. If she hadn't knocked Marian out and forced her to come back to Storybrooke, Zelena wouldn't have had a disguise to maneuver her way back into everyone's lives. It was her fault. She brought Zelena back and the woman was crazier than Regina had ever been when Emma and the brunette had been at odds that first year.

Emma didn't wait around any longer. She mentally kicked herself all the way up to the ground floor of the hospital and further still as she slid into her Bug and headed home. She stayed parked in the Bug on the curb for a few minutes and blankly stared ahead as she continued to blame and beat herself up about something she logically knew she couldn't have foreseen. But Emma wasn't thinking logically in that moment. She was wrapped up in her emotions. She was stuck on the fact that she'd pushed too hard and screwed everything up for Regina, even though she thought she'd been doing what was best. Emma doing what she thought was best always ended up hurting Regina. _She_ hurt Regina. She had to fix it, but she doubted her plans to make Robin the best boyfriend and soulmate ever would be enough. Because Emma wasn't enough and her efforts to be enough always fell short.

She took a deep breath and held it in for a long moment before she exhaled and then exited the Bug. As she went to work on setting up the things she'd bought earlier around the house and without using magic, she collected herself and inwardly chanted over and over again that she would stay on track. No matter what doubts about herself and her ability to give Regina a beautiful and well-deserved happily ever after, she had to continue to do everything in her power to make Regina's life everything it should be. Robin included.

* * *

She stared at the familiar gold numbers on the door as she waited for it to swing open. She listened closely for the sound of heels on the hardwood floor in the foyer, but the door opened without her ever having picked up on a single click. Her eyes went from Regina's confused gaze down to her bare feet and Emma's lips curled into an amused smile.

Emma's eyes traveled back up Regina's legs to see they were covered by black leggings. As her eyes wandered further up the other woman's body, she took in the matching black, scoop neck shirt that fell loosely around her hips, torso and shoulders. One of the short sleeves hung off Regina's shoulders and exposed a thin, purple bra strap. She licked her lips without even consciously meaning to do it before her eyes locked on Regina's again and almost a full minute later, Emma finally greeted her.

"Hi."

She watched Regina's throat bob as she swallowed and then stared at Regina's lips when the brunette tentatively replied, "Hi."

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I," Emma asked and looked Regina over once again, quicker that time.

Regina looked down at her own attire before she shook her head and replied, "No, but it's not as if I was expecting visitors at this hour."

"It's only eight o'clock," Emma pointed out with a frown.

"Well, I didn't make any plans for tonight and it's been a long day."

"Should I… Do you want me to leave," Emma asked and she felt like an idiot for just showing up without warning. She hadn't told Robin to come over and just be there for Regina, because she thought he'd just make a mess of things, so she'd decided to check on the brunette instead.

"You don't have to go," Regina answered after a few seconds. "I'm just surprised you're here."

"Why?"

"You just…you always seem have to perfect timing. Or the worst timing depending on how you look at it."

Emma swallowed and shoved her hands in her pockets before she asked, "Bad day?"

"I've had worse, but today could have gone better." Regina looked her over from head to toe and back up again. She let go of the door and stepped aside. When she turned around and started to head further inside the house, Emma took the hint and wordlessly followed the other woman.

Emma shut the door and locked it behind her before she continued after Regina. She joined the brunette in the kitchen and watched her pour hot water from a kettle into a mug. There was a box of chocolate mix next to Regina on the counter and soon after she set down the kettle, she stirred the contents of the mug.

"Henry had the last of the cinnamon," Regina said before she lifted the mug and carried it over to Emma. "He's upstairs working on homework if you want to see him. Or blame him for you having to drink plain cocoa."

Emma chuckled and accepted the mug with both hands. Her fingers grazed over the backs of Regina's hands as the mug transferred from one woman to the other. Green eyes flicked up from the mug and locked on Regina's before she smiled and said, "Better than not getting any at all. Thanks."

Regina ran her hands down her shirt to smooth it out, but Emma saw it for the nervous habit it was. She took a brief sip of hot chocolate then lowered the mug and tried to calm the other woman's apparent nerves.

"Do you want to talk about something," she asked.

Regina cleared her throat and shook her head. "I'm fine. It's just been a long day."

"Is it Robin? Have you seen him recently?"

"Robin and I are fine."

"Just fine?"

Regina rolled her eyes and brushed past Emma toward the foyer. "Feel free to stay and finish your cocoa, but after that you can let yourself out. I'm going to bed."

"Wait," Emma set the mug down on the counter and rushed after the other woman. She stopped Regina at the stairs and rested a hand on the railing near Regina's own hand to catch her attention. Regina hesitated on the third stair and turned to Emma. "I thought maybe you could use some company. If you don't want to talk, we can just sit and watch a movie."

Regina stared at her for a while before she took a breath and then walked back down the stairs, level with Emma once again. "Do you have something in mind?"

"Something sappy and light."

"Does the Dark One do sappy and light?"

"Maybe Rumpelstiltskin didn't, but I know that's what I need right about now. What do you say?"

"Fine. I'll pick out the movie and you can say goodnight to Henry."

"That's a deal," Emma smiled and headed up the stairs while Regina made her way into the living room.

She stood outside of Henry's room for a moment and peered through the cracked open door before she smiled to herself and pushed the door all the way open. "Hey, Kid," she greeted and continued to smile, unable to be anything other than happy to be around him. Her inner struggle with herself, her magic, and her dark thoughts faded in his presence because Henry was more important than her pain. No matter what adversities she faced, she would always love and protect Henry above all else.

"Emma," Henry almost breathlessly said her name, his eyes wide with surprise. His hand and pen stilled against the notebook he'd been writing in before he'd seen her. After a few seconds, he dropped his pen and pulled himself to the edge of his bed. He sat with his legs over the side and braced his hands on either side of himself as he looked her over for a moment. He seemed to be assessing her and the thought that he still wasn't sure what to make of her given the limited time he'd shared with her since she became the Dark One almost made her chin wobble.

She fought back tears she hadn't realized she could shed after all the darkness she had absorbed as she sagged against the doorframe. She never took her eyes off Henry and hoped that he understood she wasn't there to hurt him, or his mother for that matter. Somehow she seemed to get the message across.

Henry jumped off the bed and rushed to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed like it was the first time they'd seen each other after a harrowing battle. Despite having seen each other a few days ago, that moment, that hug, was truly the first real interaction they'd had since their return to Storybrooke. Even after her sacrifice, when they'd all been in the Enchanted Forest, she'd been more like herself. She'd _looked_ more like herself, too. Her hair had still been blonde, not white. She hadn't worn anything black or leather. Her lips had been natural and pink instead of the bright red she favored as the Dark One.

She exhaled heavily as she held him to her in a tight hug and closed her eyes for a moment. She took that moment to relax, just a little, and then finally pulled away.

"Okay, Henry. I'm going to be honest with you. I would _never_ hurt you. Even like this. And no matter how much darkness I have inside me, no matter how long my name is on some all-powerful dagger, I love you. Do you understand?"

It was in that moment she realized how much she sounded like Regina that first year. She remembered when she'd kissed Henry awake and Regina wanted to make it clear how she felt, always had and always would feel, about Henry.

" _No matter what you think, no matter what anyone says, I do love you."_

Henry nodded.

"Good. Now get back to your homework. Your mom and I have some stuff to talk about so I'm going to be here for a little while, alright?"

He nodded again.

"I thought it was fair for you to know," Emma added. "I saw the look on your face when you found out she and I had seen each other and we hadn't told or included you so I'm making sure you don't feel left out again, even if you're not a part of the conversation."

"Okay," he finally verbalized a response. "But…you won't hurt Mom, will you? You say you won't hurt me, but—"

"I won't hurt her," she promised with sharp, sincere eyes that spoke only truth. She knew as he stared right into her that eyes he wouldn't have a single doubt that she was being honest.

His lips curled into a small smile before he backed away toward his bed and sat back down. He pushed the open books around to make room for himself before he shifted and folded his legs beneath him. He looked at her one last time with a bit of a hopeful look and then turned his attention back to his schoolwork as she slipped out of his room and into the hallway.

She'd fought to be Henry's hero before, fought to have and keep a place in his life, and she could sure as hell keeping fighting for that even though she'd chosen to become a villain. Her stomach started to twist with discomfort for feeling any less than strong and anger started to boil her blood as she thought about _why_ she was a villain in the first place. It wasn't anyone's fault. It had been her own choice.

But Regina…

Regina sat with her legs tucked under her left side on the couch. She had a glass of wine in one hand and there was another on the coffee table. She looked different in loungewear. She looked completely at home, which she was, but there was another kind of at-home feeling about Regina's appearance as well. She was at home in her own skin. Emma had never seen her look so calm and comfortable. In that moment, Emma thought even the darkest part of her couldn't blame saving Regina regardless of the consequences.

The brunette looked at her from across the room and curiously tilted her head to the side as she kept their gazes locked. "Are you going to join me or just stand there and watch me watch this movie?"

Emma grinned and moved toward the couch as she replied, "As tempting as that is, I'll join you."

Regina lifted the remote and pressed play. The sound of the studio that funded the movie filled the living room before the screen went black and then faded in to the start of whatever Regina had chosen to watch for the evening.

Emma plopped down next to Regina on the couch in the most graceless way ever, in true Emma Swan style. Hardly any space existed between the two of them on the couch, except for the space that Regina's legs created. Although, Regina's bare feet lightly pressed against Emma's outer thigh so even her legs didn't put much distance between them. Emma licked her lips without conscious thought. It was a knee jerk reaction to the barely-there touch and the blonde never even realized she'd done it. She just sat there and stared ahead at the screen as she saw the first few scenes. The movie didn't matter. She wasn't interested in what Regina had picked. She only cared that Regina was thankfully open to the idea of a movie night with her, because Emma knew Regina wasn't in the best mood and needed the company even though the brunette would deny it every time.

"So you don't want to talk about Robin. Anything else on your mind," Emma waited to ask until they were several minutes into the movie. She reached for the untouched wine glass on the coffee table and took a sip as Regina lowered hers onto the end table next to her side of the couch.

"Not particularly, no."

"I know I'm not a very open person either, but I _do_ know that the longer you keep this bottled up the easier it'll be for it to eat at you. Inner demons and all that."

"I'm well aware," Regina flatly said, and Emma knew that was true. But that was exactly the kind of thing that fell under Emma's self-assigned job to help Regina be happy.

Emma took another sip of her wine then leaned forward and set it back down on the coffee table. As she sat back on the couch, she took a deep breath and then turned her head to face the other woman. "If he's being a jerk, I'll kick his ass."

Regina's head snapped to the side to look at her so fast Emma worried the brunette would suffer from whiplash. At first, her brown eyes looked upset but a light quickly appeared in them after locking on Emma's gaze. Full lips curled into a radiant smile seconds later and then Emma heard the most heartwarming laugh from Regina.

"Thank you for the offer, but if you'll recall the last time you interfered with my love life it ended what you thought was our friendship."

Emma's eyes widened and she immediately swallowed the lump in her throat. She hadn't forgotten that, but it definitely wasn't in the front of her mind when she'd taken Robin's heart and pocketed it for her later, somewhat sadistic use. With that as her top conscious thought, Emma thought it was best they proceeded with conversation that didn't involve Robin Hood. She really wanted Regina to open up about Zelena and her visit to the psych ward anyway so she found a way to subtly change the subject.

"Right. I only said that because I think he isn't focusing on you enough."

"Why would that concern you," Regina asked with a furrowed brow.

"I just… You're my friend and friends don't want to see friends get hurt."

Regina shrugged and rolled her eyes. "I'm already hurt," the brunette quietly admitted.

"Tell me what's going on."

"Why? So you can tell me you're going to kick Robin's ass again? Or worse, actually attack him?"

Emma nervously licked her lips and averted her eyes for a moment before she leaned to one side, which pushed Regina's foot further against her thigh. She took a quick breath and then said, "You can't talk to Henry about this. You might be able to talk to my Mom about it, but would you really want to do that? And Zelena's not helpful at all. She's at least half of your problem with Robin, isn't she?"

Regina clenched her jaw and kept her eyes focused on the movie.

"Maybe you don't want to talk to me about it either, but I'm here. I'm listening. And even as the Dark One I've still got your back. I just want you to know that if you're going through something, you're not doing it alone."

Regina sucked in a deep breath and curled her fingers against her palms a few times before she relaxed and turned away from the screen. She kept her eyes on Emma's for a long moment before she said, "Zelena… She doesn't care about Robin. She just wanted to stand between me and my happiness and having his baby is a bonus."

"What?" Emma tuned away from the TV and tucked a leg under herself. Her right knee touched the back of the couch and her right foot rested beneath the underside of her left thigh. The new position forced Regina's foot to then press against Emma's shin.

Regina guzzled down half of what remained in her wine glass before she cleared things up for Emma. "At first, when she came back she just wanted to put a wedge between Robin and me. But when they went to New York, she thought maybe it could be her chance to start over. She didn't care that it was Robin. It was just… He was just convenient. She'd already run off with him. And Roland was there for practice."

"Practice," Emma repeated with a heavy sense of dread. Her stomach dropped low in her gut and felt like steel. She was the Dark One, the Enchanted Forest's version of the Boogie Man, and yet the new information Regina relayed to her made her nauseous.

"Roland always saw Zelena as his mother because she was pretending to be Marian. He never knew the difference. He was too young when I- When I captured her. He could recognize her, but beyond that he barely knew her. Zelena cared for him and smiled at him, said all the right things. He trusted her. He loved her. Unconditionally."

"How do you know all this," she asked even though she already knew the answer.

"She told me. I went to see her today. I haven't visited her since we came back and I stuck her back in her cell. After my date with Robin, I figured if I had a chat with her it might make things a little clearer as why things between Robin and I haven't gone back to the way they were before she showed up."

"Did you get your answer?"

Regina shook her head. "No. I got _an_ answer, but not the one I'd gone there to get. She… Roland loved her unconditionally because to him, she was his mother. She felt that love. She'd never felt that way before, the way she felt when Roland would hug her or just…look at her. It's like how we feel with Henry. He loves us and looks up to us and even when he's angry at us he never wants us to get hurt or suffer."

"So…what, that convinced her to keep up the charade?"

"No, it convinced her that there could be someone in her life that could love her the way she should have been loved by our mother. The way she should have been loved by the man who'd raised her. So she…she planned to get pregnant."

"Getting pregnant with Robin's baby wasn't about you?"

"Apparently not," Regina humorlessly laughed. She smiled as she laughed, but it was a sad and twisted expression. "It was about her. Robin was just the sperm donor."

"Does- Does he know that," Emma asked with wide eyes.

"It's possible, but then if he knows that it doesn't make sense to me why he would keep going back to talk to her."

"Wait, he's still in touch with that bat-shit crazy witch?"

"I haven't seen him visit, but he's mentioned going there to talk about the baby. He said he's trying to establish a plan for after the baby's born, but Zelena claims he doesn't just talk about the baby."

"What the hell else would he have to talk about with her?"

"How things could work out between them once the baby's here. How co-parenting might work. He wants to be a part of the baby's life and he understands that means he'll most likely have to be a part of Zelena's life too."

"That. Fucking. _Asshole_ ," Emma growled, but then yelled the last word.

Regina sighed and explained, "You have to understand. He's from a different world, a different time."

"Yeah, so are you, but I don't see you trying to make something happen between you and your rapist baby mama!"

Regina cringed. Emma would have regretted her words because of the negative effect they had on the other woman, but she was enraged and her eyes flashed from green to yellow to dark as sin black. She was going to kill the bastard and revel in the blood and screams and the loss of light in his eyes in his final moments when he finally realized all he'd had to do to survive was treat Regina better.

She felt a hand on her arm and it was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her in her fiery rage. She blinked and then shook her head as she snapped out of her thoughts and back into the present.

"Are you okay," Regina asked, and Emma immediately noticed the obvious concern in her beautiful brown eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah," she breathed out and forced a smile to help Regina believe the lie. In all honesty, she hadn't ever felt so absorbed by anger and hate. Even when she'd been a feisty and unwanted child, teen, and adult, she'd never once felt emotions like that. Never felt hurt, pain, upset, or murderous intent as aggressively as she had in that moment. "Sorry. I just…I seriously don't understand that guy."

Regina didn't look at all convinced. She still looked worried, more so than Emma had ever seen her look. After a couple of seconds, Regina's hand slipped away from her arm and the two of them just stared at each other for a moment. The movie played in the background, but neither of them cared or even seemed to notice the sounds or flashes of the changing scenes.

"Well," Regina said before she cleared her throat and looked down for a brief second. She looked up at Emma again and continued, "I'd like to point out I don't have a 'rapist baby mama.' I have an infuriating, idiotic, self-sacrificing baby mama. I also think I need to mention, we doco-parent Henry."

"You're defending him. The fact that he's seeing Zelena and basically trying to plan their future together doesn't bother you?"

"It's not that simple."

"Actually, it is. Robin and Zelena aren't us. I might be dark and evil now, but I'm not messed up like your crazy, murderous sister. She killed Marian without a thought. She didn't even know her when she killed her. She just needed a way back to this world. She honestly didn't even have to kill her. She could have just poofed Marian somewhere else in the Enchanted Forest and just magically stolen her identity the way she did. But no, her first thought was just to get rid of Marian altogether.

"And then she realized who she was pretending to be and got some sick thrill out of destroying your happiness before she then raped and used Robin to make a baby for some seriously selfish reasons. That's insane!"

"I once killed Marian without a thought, too," Regina shouted. "I slept with Graham when I had possession of his heart so it's not like he could have completely consented to the agreement we had. He was free to make his own decisions in this world, but it's not like he knew our history like I did. If he had and I'd let him have his free will, he would _not_ have chosen to be with me in any way. You call my sister insane, but I barely see the difference between her and me."

Emma's lips parted. She blinked a few times as she finally started to see why Regina might not have been so quick to judge Zelena, or even Robin. There were similarities between Regina and Zelena. She understood that once Regina had laid it out for her, but she also knew that Regina had changed. She wasn't in the same place as Zelena was in. Regina had moved past that and she realized that Regina still felt like she hadn't changed enough. Emma was determined to prove to Regina that just wasn't true. "You're not like her. Not anymore."

Regina shook her head and her chin started to wobble as her eyes watered. She was on the verge of tears and Emma scooted forward on the couch to be closer to the brunette.

Emma grabbed Regina's ankles and lifted them as she closed some of the space between them. She didn't let go of Regina's legs until they were draped over Emma's left thigh and hip. "You still want to believe she'll change, don't you?"

Tears streaked down Regina's cheek and the brunette raised a hand to wipe them away, but Emma reached out and beat her to it. She swiped her thumb over olive-toned skin and breathed out a barely audible sigh.

"I gave her a chance before and I… It looked like she would have rather killed herself than make amends with me," Regina started to explain. "She's known me most of my life, but I've never had the chance to know her. She was the only family I had and I knew exactly how she felt. I'd lived it all before. I thought…I thought I could be enough.

"And then she came back just to rip apart my life and make me miserable. I don't understand why she still holds so much hate for something I couldn't control. I didn't choose to be Cora's daughter. I didn't choose to be born."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Emma softly interjected.

Regina sniffled. "If I could move on from that point in my life, maybe she can, too. And Robin's been able to overlook all that I've done so maybe that's why he visits her. Things are complicated and she is having his baby so maybe…maybe he's trying to see past her faults. For the baby. They're in this together now. Like we are."

"Not like we are. There circumstances are different," Emma assured her. "Way different. But I get it. Things are complicated and you know what? Robin's probably just really confused. You probably don't have anything to worry about."

"You can't know that," Regina said with a raspy voice, thick from the tears she shed as well as the ones she'd held back. She licked her lips and wiped away the rest of her tears as she moved further back into the arm of the couch.

While Emma did know that Regina had nothing to worry about because Robin was no longer in control of his heart, she found another way to assure the brunette that everything would work out. She set a hand on one of Regina's knees and gently squeezed.

"I'll tell you what I can know. I know that you don't deserve to be anyone's second choice, no matter what the circumstances and complications. I know that if Robin doesn't understand that yet because he's confused about all the stuff going on with Zelena, he'll figure it eventually. _That_ I know with certainty."

Her eyes flicked down to Regina's throat and she watched it bob up and down as the other woman swallowed. When her lips parted, Emma's eyes wandered back over her face and took a second too long to stare at her mouth before their gazes locked again.

Regina cleared her throat for a second time that night and then pulled her legs back. She brought her knees up to her chest and avoided touching Emma at all.

Emma moved back a cushion and created more room between them for Regina's benefit as soon as she saw the brunette's discomfort to being so close.

Regina took a deep breath through her nose and collected herself. A moment later, she turned back to the TV and tucked both legs beneath her. She only took up one couch cushion then and didn't give Emma any reason or excuse to be any closer than a whole cushion away. Emma stayed on her side of the couch and Regina stayed on hers.

Emma respected Regina's wordlessly put in place boundaries and stared at the other woman for a moment longer before she finally turned her attention back to the movie. They'd already missed a good chunk of it in order to talk so unless Emma wanted to lose herself in her thoughts, which had never been a preferred thing to do since becoming the Dark One, she had to watch a little too intently to catch up. Once she thought she had a good grip on the plot, she looked over at Regina and saw the woman had fallen asleep.

She smiled to herself and then looked behind her at the blanket that hung over the back of the couch. She pulled it off and carefully draped it over Regina. She ensured the blanket covered the woman from her shoulders to her feet and smoothed out any scrunched and folded up parts of the blanket before she went back to watching the rest of the movie. She was asleep before the end credits rolled.

* * *

 **A/N: It took me three weeks to finally finish up this chapter. My motivation is a little sporadic these days. Sorry. Also, for those of you who are Zelena fans, don't worry. This isn't her only involvement in the story and I think just like Regina's gotten her chances to change, Zelena should have a few herself. She's just got to be willing to change. Someday in this fic she might. :)**


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